OSU to hold special graduation ceremony for College of Vet Med on Sunday

06/06/2011

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University will award diplomas to its graduating class this Sunday, June 12, in a special ceremony that begins at 1:30 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center.

This will be the college’s 29th graduating class and it will include 49 students who will receive doctor of veterinary medicine degrees.

Chris Cebra, head of the college’s Clinical Sciences Department, is the invited faculty speaker, while the commencement address will be given by Tracey McNamara, a veterinary pathologist who specializes in the recognition and understanding of captive and free-ranging wildlife – and is best-known for her role in the discovery of West Nile Virus in the United States.

Many of OSU’s graduates already have jobs lined up, though the market is tight, according to Susan Tornquist, associate dean for students in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The college’s graduates are highly respected because of their diverse training, she said, which includes not only large- and small-animal health and surgery, but public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, and others.

They also have access to some of the best technology of any veterinary medicine program in the country, including a 64-slice CT scanner, a high-speed equine treadmill, advanced oncology treatment and high-tech cardiology, and physical rehabilitation and therapy.

“We’re particularly proud of how much hands-on practical training our graduates have – partly because of our relatively small class size and high faculty-to-student ratio,” Tornquist pointed out. “We also have a unique partnership with the Oregon Humane Society, which allows each of our graduates to experience extensive hands-on surgical experience and exposure to cases.”

The 49 new doctors of veterinary medicine are part of the largest overall graduating class in Oregon State University history, with more than 4,600 students.

The following students will receive their doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) degrees this year from OSU (listed alphabetically within Oregon, then nationally and internationally)